Breech-loading fire-arm



0Q VWLS'NEIDER.

BRBEGH LOADING FIRE ARM.

Patented Apr. 25, 1882 (No-Model.)

I VYlTNESSE S.

W a flm I ATTORNEY.

" UNITED, STATES;

PATENT OFFICE.-

CHARLES w. SNEIDER, or BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARM.

srnermca'rrou forming To all whom tt may concern Be it known that I,CHARLES W. SNEIDER,

vented certain new and useful Improvements in Breech-Loading Fire-Arms;and I herebydeclare the same to be fully, clearly, and exactly describedas follows, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which-"Figure 1 is aside elevation, partly in section, of that portion of theweapon to which my invention relates; and Fig. 2 is a similar view, onanenlarged scale, of the cocking-lever and its immediate connections.

My present invention relates tobreechload ing firearms in general, andin particular to that class of the same known as hammerless guns, inwhich the strikers are pivoted on the inside of the lockplates; and itconsists in certain features of construction of the cocking mechanism,as hereinafter set forth and claimed.

The lock shown in the accompanyingdraw' ings is in all essentialrespects the same as that shown anddescribed in my patent of May 4,1880, No. 227,135, as is also the safety-catch. Describing here brieflythe parts, A is the hammer, pivoted to the lock-plate and passingthrough a slotin the end at of the puslnbolt F. This bolt passes freelythrough hearings E E, and around it is coiled, between. the rearbearingand a nnt,f, the spiral mainspring e.

C is the sear, having a notch in itsforward end that engages with asimilar notch in the end of the bolt F when the latter is pushed back,cocking the weapon. Sear-springs c subserve the usual functions, as dothe triggers B. In the end of the top lever, or, in the case of adifferent breech-action, in the top strap, is pivoted a cam, 11, whichdepresses the bar it upon the scars and locks the piece at full-cock. Aspring, I, serves to lift-the bar when the cam is rotated, so as torelease it. These parts and their operation are similar, as stated, tothose of my patented lock, except in two minor particulars. Instead ofpivoting the hammer in the part at, I simply pass it through a slot inthe latter, which slot is made long enough to give a slight play to thehammer and allow it to rebound from the firingpin. The push-bolt F inthe present case is made to bear directly upon the cocking cam part ofLetters Yatent No. 257,097, dated April 25, 1882, Application filcd'Jnly't,t881. two model.)

or lever instead of upon an intermediate bar, as shown in the patentabove referred to- Before proceeding to a'description of the featuresembodying my present improvement it may be, well to state briefly .theobjects sought to be attained. & 1

1n hammer-less guns of the class to which my invention r'elatesn'amely,lsuch as are cocked in the act of opening the breech'a difficulty hasbeen encountered arising from the fact that the leverage is practicallyconstant, while the tension of the springs increases greatly as they arecompressed, rendering it somewhat difiicult to cook the locks. Thisdifficulty I obviate by the use of a cam or bent lever in which thepower-arm increases as the spring is compressed, whereby the resistanceis made constant, and the gun is cooked without an increase of theefl'ort requisite to start the barrels from the breech. I furtherarrange the cocking-cam in such manner that it is retracted as thebreech is closed, and the fall of the hammer is absolutely unimpededamost important feature in this class of weapons in whichthe hammer isnecessarily short and the are through which it falls is short.

In the front of the breech I pivot atg a cam, G,(of course in doubleguns there are two',one for each lock,)havingan ex tendedarm,g. Thepivot g is above the breech-pivot upon which the barrel turns. To thebarrel is secured a lug, H, which, whenthe breech is closed, rests onthe arm 1 at-itsinnerend,asshownin heavy lines, Fig. 2. As the barrel istilted to open the breech the lug traverses the arm 9 from 1 to 2 until,when the lock is full-cocked, it occupies the position shown in Fig. 1and indote are such that the increase of leverage is much.

less than that on the other side of the cam.

1n the lower side of the barrel 1 is arecess, i, the front face ofwhich, as the hreechis closed,

encounters the top of the cam (see Fig. 2) and.

returns the cam to the position shown, permitting the unobstructedforwardgmotion of the bolt F when the'trig'ger is retracted to fire theweapon.

A stufiing-box around the pin or a packingwould be apt to be dangerousas possibly jamming the pin and causing the accidental dis- 'charge ofthe weapon as the breech is closed. I obviate the difficulty bymakin'ginthe breech a gas-chamber, h, opening freely to'the air, through whichchamber the firing-pin passes.

V The chamber is closed by a perforated plug or screw, j, serving tostrengthen the breech-shell; Any gas which leaks past the -front bearingpf the pin distributesitself in the chamber, and does not passthrough-the rear bearing into the lock.

While 1 have described the'lock as being cocked byaud in the act ofopening the breech, I dofnotconfine myself thereto, as a separatecocking-lever may be used to actuate-the cam.. I am aware that it is notbroadly new to chamber the breech around the firing-pin in order toprovide for the escapeof gas, and such 1 do not claim.

Having thus described myinvention,what

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

'1. In a so-called hammerless gun, a cam pivoted in the breech andadapted to cock the lock, in combination with a lug integral with orattached to the barrel, whichsaid lug as the breech is opened traversesan arm of the cam in a direction away from its pivot, whereby theleverage gradually increases with the tensionof the spring, as setforth.

2. In combination with the look of a so-called 11am merless gun, a campivoted in thebreech and adapted to dock the lock, and having aprojection against which the barrel abuts as the breech is closed,whereby the forward motion of the striker-bolt is unimpedetbassset Iforth,

3. In aso-called ham merless" gumabreech-iipiece chambered about thefiring-pin,- the saide chamber having a lateral opening, in whichisrgq vinserted a perforated plug, wherebyanygasese which leak into said chamher; through thefronti openingfor the pin are affordedra freevent-towthe air and their entrance through the-rear bearing into the lock-cavityis-prevented, asn55

